Bridge death toll increases
CRACKDOWN: PRIVATE OPERATOR TO FACE HEAVY FINES
Children aged eight, 12 and 13 among those who died when bridge collapsed.
Genoa
Italy’s government yesterday blamed the firm that operated the collapsed Genoa bridge for the disaster in which at least 39 people died, as it announced a state of emergency in the city.
Search operations, meanwhile, entered a second night with rescuers digging through mountains of crushed concrete last night.
A vast span of the Morandi bridge caved in during a heavy rainstorm in the northern port city on Tuesday, sending about 35 cars and several trucks plunging 45m onto railway tracks below.
Children aged eight, 12 and 13 were among the dead, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said, adding that more people were still missing. Sixteen people were injured.
The driver of a green lorry left precariously close to the edge told Italian media how he had escaped the “hell” of the bridge collapse.
“It was raining very hard and it wasn’t possible to go very fast,” he told the Corriere della Sera daily.
“When a car overtook me I slowed down... [then] at a certain moment everything shook. The car in front of me disappeared and seemed to be swallowed up by the clouds. I looked up and saw the bridge pylon fall,” he said.
“Instinctively, finding myself in front of the void, I put the van into reverse, to escape this hell.”
Three Chileans, who live in Italy, and four French nationals were also killed.
The tragedy has focussed anger on the structural problems that have dogged the decades old Morandi bridge and the private sector firm Autostrade per l’Italia, which is currently in charge of operating and maintaining swathes of the country’s motorways.
Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said the tragedy could have been avoided. “Autostrade should have done maintenance and didn’t do it,” he alleged.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed his government would push to revoke the company’s contract for the A10 motorway, which includes the bridge, while Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said the company should be fined up to 150 million euros.
The firm, which said the bridge had been undergoing maintenance work, however, released a statement refuting accusations of underfunding of motorway infrastructure. –
I put the van into reverse, to escape this hell.